I think I might just be pretty dumb...

[Avalonjohn44]

So I've had my new boat out several times now, and each time I've taken it to the same lake - electric only, an impoundment with a ton of trees just under the surface.
Each time I've managed, with just my trolling motor and some momentum, to get lodged on one of those trees. The first handful of times I was able to get off by figuring out which side of the boat to go to, having my kids and me lean that way and then get the boat off the tree with the TM... Then today... Got hung up somehow, and no amount of rocking, leaning, putting the TM on maximum etc could dislodge me. My brother and I jumped out and tried to push it off, but in 12 feet of water we had no purchase...Finally I waited for other boats nearby to clear out and just started the engine and popped off after gunning it in reverse...

Having never heard or read about this, is this something that happens often, or at least often with a Tracker? My dead rise at the back of the boat is 10 degrees, so it isn't flat by any means, but the V isn't very pronounced either...  Maybe it's just my dumb luck.  I would hate to one day get caught using my engine on an electric only lake...

[Ohio Archer]

Is the lake water so stained or dirty that you can't see the stumps or are you so focused on fishing that you don't see them?  I run up on them once in a while but have never been stuck to the point I had to use the outboard.  Put the TM on high and go the opposite direction.  I did get stuck between 4 or 5 rocks on Okeechobee one time.  Took me about 30 minutes to figure a way out.  The water was about 5-7' deep and I could not see more than 6" below the surface.  And that was with a 17' Champion. 

[fishnkamp]

Here on the Chesapeake Bay we do not have the problems with stumps but we do have a changing tide. Sometimes that can cause a situation that you go to leave a creek and do not have enough water to motor out, or the lily pad field gets too low to motor back to free a stuck lure. Here is my solution. Do a web search for the DotLine Telescopic Pole and the duck foot that goes on it. I keep that pole in my rod locker since it collapses down to 58 inches long. It takes just seconds to snap the duck foot on and then it extends out to 12 foot long.

 

[Avalonjohn44]

No, the water is pretty clear... I'm a new boater and I suck with my TM still. I saw that SOB the whole way... It was like that scene in Austin powers where the guy was standing there waiting for the steam roller to run him over. 

After thinking about it, I believe the problem was that the deadhead perfectly matched the size of the space between two strakes, which are fairly pronounced on my tracker, and I got wedged on there just perfectly...

[EllisJuan]

I have gotten my Tracker stuck on stumps pretty bad just using the trolling motor, to where I thought I was going to have to use the big motor.  After moving around the boat and changing directions with the trolling motor I have been able to become dislodged every time so far. I bought a Tin boat so I could fish the rough stuff, so I am sure it is only a matter of time.  

[crazyjoeclemens]

My home lake is so muddy you cant see anything in there, and I've run up on a bunch of tree stumps with the trolling motor.  Fortunately its never been more complicated than throwing it in reverse and kicking the trolling motor up to 100%.

[Ratherbfishing]

You could always run into the one excessively anal retentive game warden out there but otherwise, I wouldn't worry excessively about running the outboard for such an occasion as you described.  You gotta do what you gotta do.  I once slid up onto a submerged tree and if I hadn't used my (forbidden to run) larger outboard to pull it off, I'd STILL be stuck on that lake (this was 5 years ago).  I'd be more concerned about pulling the TM mount off your boat deck.  On another occasion, I got my trolling motor wedged so tight in a submerged tree root and couldn't get it out.  The wind was bad that day and the waves ripped the mount clean off the deck of my boat.  I imagine using an outboard could wreak similar havoc if you aren't careful.

[Gundog]

13 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

Here on the Chesapeake Bay we do not have the problems with stumps but we do have a changing tide. Sometimes that can cause a situation that you go to leave a creek and do not have enough water to motor out, or the lily pad field gets too low to motor back to free a stuck lure. Here is my solution. Do a web search for the DotLine Telescopic Pole and the duck foot that goes on it. I keep that pole in my rod locker since it collapses down to 58 inches long. It takes just seconds to snap the duck foot on and then it extends out to 12 foot long.

 

^^^^This. When I had my little jon boat back in the day a telescoping pole was the best item I could have on my boat. Plus when fishing got tough I pulled up the tm and poled in shallow water to sneak up on the fish. It works. 

[WIGuide]

Obviously, try not to do that if you can, but on occasion it'll happen. Before using your big motor next time you can try these first. It sounds like you put your tm straight forward and straight back. Most of the time that works, but if it doesn't try sideways and slightly backwards. Try to get the boat to spin on it. Another option would be to try to walk your boat off. Run you tm backwards in a sort of zig zag pattern as it often times allows the boat to slowly slide back over the stump. Being left high centered sucks, but you can usually get it off with the tm.

[Further North]

A few years back I was fishing a channel on Sturgeon Lake up in NW Ontario...I was in a Lund Pro-V 1800, with a Johnson 150 on it - not a lightweight by any stretch of the imagination.  The wind was blowing me along a a nice break where my electronics were showing a sharp drop off from a big flat to about 30 ft. of water.

I was fishing what was marked on the map as a mid lake hump that topped out around 5 ft. deep...turned out it was really about 5 inches...which I found out when I high centered the boat opposite the side I was fishing from...the big motor was stuck on the rock (by rock..I mean rock.  Not basketball sized...not truck sized...think...apartment building sized) and the front of the boat was stuck solid...with the wind pushing into me enough that I can't get the boat moved without it getting right back on the rock. 10 minutes of rocking the boat and trying to use the trolling motor to get me off the rock told me I was screwed...

I'm an easy 10 miles from camp, by myself and I haven't seen another boat all day...so I put the TM (a Terrova) on 2, pointed it away from the rock, into the wind...hopped over the side and gave a big ol' grunt and a shove while hanging onto the back of the boat...then I had to get back in the boat while it was far enough off the rock to crank the TM up to 10 and pull me off.

That took two tries...

I got 'er done and finished up the channel (staying 20 ft. away from the rock) with a beauty of a big pike - just under 40"...

I do not recommend this as a method for getting un-stuck...

[fishnkamp]

Here again the telescoping pole with the duck foot may have saved you from that. try one they can be a life saver

 

 

 

 

[Avalonjohn44]

Going to look for one of those Fishnkamp, thanks for the pic.  Found it on TW, it is not that much either, under $50 for the setup...

[blackmax135]

Just use your outboard to get off of it.  No officer is gonna hastle you about getting your boat off of a stump as long as you shut it off as soon as you get off of the stump.  I have this happen all the time due to the waters I fish are very muddy and stained.  My dad has a flat bottom boat and we were coming out of a creek where we put the boat in and as soon as we turned into the main river we ran up on a pilon. Stayed stuck on that thing for about 15 minutes spinning in circles.  We put the motor in reverse and just kept rocking the boat 

[Montanaro]

Couple weeks ago got so stuck that my prop was out of water....had to get paddle and spin the boat off the stump.

 

When in doubt, rotate the boat.

[S. Sass]

We usually just rock the boat a couple times with the TM on high helping. Sometimes it takes a few tries but it so far has come off every time. 

[fishnkamp]

One nice thing that pole is real sturdy and does not bend. It is an aluminum pole with ridges all the way around it.

[Further North]

I think the pole is a good idea if you have room for it.

[Catt]

A 12' push pole aint much good in 12' of water!

Do what ya gotta do!

[fishnkamp]

Well I bet he is not sitting on the only tree in the area, so maybe he would be able to leverage against one of the others in order to get off the one he is stuck on.  If he did get stuck on the only one, than he would have to be related to Charlie Brown!

[Avalonjohn44]

2 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

Well I bet he is not sitting on the only tree in the area, so maybe he would be able to leverage against one of the others in order to get off the one he is stuck on.  If he did get stuck on the only one, than he would have to be related to Charlie Brown!

No comment other than I will refer you once again to the title of this thread...

[A-Jay]

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 10:25 PM, Avalonjohn44 said:

No, the water is pretty clear... I'm a new boater and I suck with my TM still. I saw that SOB the whole way... It was like that scene in Austin powers where the guy was standing there waiting for the steam roller to run him over. 

After thinking about it, I believe the problem was that the deadhead perfectly matched the size of the space between two strakes, which are fairly pronounced on my tracker, and I got wedged on there just perfectly...

As an admitted new boater and novice Trolling Motor operator, the stump infested water you have chosen to fish dictates that you take some time in some different (unobstructed) waters to practice using your equipment effectively. 

No doubt its a good idea to have what you need and to be ready & prepared to use it.  However instead of buying poles etc, perhaps delegating some time & effort improving your abilities & gaining more confidence is called for here.  Avoiding water hazards you can actually see may be a better long term solution. 

In your initial post you asked if repeated "stumpings" were a common occurrence - I'll say that it happens more when navigating unfamiliar water, at night & / or when the under water visibility is poor - and considerably less when a boater is familiar with the area, during daylight and when under water visibility allows seeing before hitting it. 

Finally, in reference to your threads title, Inexperience & Dumb are different but to ignore the first is to own the second.

A-Jay

 

[Avalonjohn44]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

As an admitted new boater and novice Trolling Motor operator, the stump infested water you have chosen to fish dictates that you take some time in some different (unobstructed) waters to practice using your equipment effectively. 

No doubt its a good idea to have what you need and to be ready & prepared to use it.  However instead of buying poles etc, perhaps delegating some time & effort improving your abilities & gaining more confidence is called for here.  

No choice really, I'm two+ hours from anything other than a couple of shallow rivers with current and big rocks.  Not ready to chance that until I'm more comfortable with my eq. 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Avoiding water hazards you can actually see may be a better long term solution.

Lol, no kidding...

 

[Nice_Bass]

This happens to me on a lake I fish pretty often in my tracker.  usually I can rock it off however i have had to evacuate the boat once of me and my buddy so it would be able to float itself off of the timber on its own with the reduced weight.  It was just enough for a bit more wiggle room and i was able to push it off. .  This is about 30 feet of water. 

if that had not worked my next move was to try and toss the anchor and pull off on another tree and at the time that did not sound like a very solid plan b....but a plan b nonetheless.

[Avalonjohn44]

4 hours ago, Nice_Bass said:

This happens to me on a lake I fish pretty often in my tracker.  usually I can rock it off however i have had to evacuate the boat once of me and my buddy so it would be able to float itself off of the timber on its own with the reduced weight.  It was just enough for a bit more wiggle room and i was able to push it off. .  This is about 30 feet of water. 

if that had not worked my next move was to try and toss the anchor and pull off on another tree and at the time that did not sound like a very solid plan b....but a plan b nonetheless.

The anchor toss actually sounds a little fun...